JPH06288620A - Operation control method for a plurality of devices - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To even the frequency of using a plurality of combustion apparatuses by comparing integration data of the frequency of use transmitted from controllers of the combustion apparatuses to set the combustion apparatuses of the minimum frequency of use on a main. CONSTITUTION:A plurality combustion apparatus bodies are provided with controllers 1A, 1B and 1C having microcomputers 10A, 10B and 10C. The controllers are connected in parallel to a system controller 5 with a transmission line for the supply of power and the transmission of control signals and remote controllers 2A, 2B and 2C are connected in the course of the transmission line. Transmitting/receiving sections and power source sections of controllers of combustion apparatuses are connected in parallel on one end side of the transmission line and the controllers integrate and store the frequency of operation indicating the frequency of using corresponding combustion apparatuses and operation time and the like. When a query signal is received, a data at the moment is transmitted. The frequency of operation of the apparatuses is compared with the system controllers 5 and the apparatuses with the minimum frequency operation are selected to be a main combustion apparatus for a specified time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-device system in which a plurality of combustion appliances each having a combustion appliance controller and an input means for the combustion appliance controller are combined to provide a single system controller. The present invention relates to a multi-device operation control method for higher-level control of an entire multi-device system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of combustion appliances (for example, a water heater) each having a combustion appliance controller and individual input means (for example, a remote controller) to the combustion appliance controller are combined to form a multi-device system. However, the operating states of the individual combustion appliances are controlled in parallel while being associated with each other, so that a large capacity exceeding the capacity of each combustion appliance (for example, hot water discharge capacity) can be obtained.

In the above-described multi-device system, each combustion appliance controller is connected to one system controller, and each combustion appliance controller controls each combustion appliance only by system data which is a control signal from the system controller. As described above, when the system controller connection request signal is output from the system controller, each combustion appliance controller identifies the system data from the system controller and the combustion appliance data that is a control signal from the individual input means, and the individual input means However, each combustion appliance controller cannot accept the data for the combustion appliance of the above.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method for controlling a plurality of equipment systems, in order to operate a plurality of combustion appliances systematically and to make the usage frequency uniform, a constant time interval (for example, 24 hours) is used. Each time, the operation starts first at the start of use and stops at the end at the end of operation (for example, in the hot water supply system, if the minimum water flow rate MOQ required for hot water operation is confirmed, combustion will start first. However, when the amount of hot water used falls, the combustion operation is stopped at the end) The main combustion appliance is rotated among the multiple combustion appliances that make up the multi-device system, so each combustion appliance has a fixed period of time. (For example, in the case of 3 combustion appliances, it becomes the main combustion appliance every 3 days), and if the usage time differs depending on the day, the operating time will differ for each combustion appliance. There is a problem that results in a variation in the use frequency.

An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-device operation control method capable of equalizing the use frequency of each combustion device in a multi-device system formed by connecting a plurality of combustion devices.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of combustion units each having a combustion appliance body controller and an individual input means to the combustion appliance body controller. A multi-device operation control method, in which a single system controller is provided in a multi-device system including a combination of appliances to control each combustion appliance main controller in a higher order, wherein each combustion appliance main controller is the frequency of use of the corresponding combustion appliance. (For example, the number of times of operation, the number of hours of operation) are integrated, and the system controller sends an inquiry signal of the frequency of use (for example, the number of times of operation, hours of operation) to the main body controller of the combustion appliance every predetermined time (for example, 24 hours) to make an inquiry. Receiving the response signal of the usage frequency accumulated at that time from each combustion appliance body controller that received the signal A multi-device system is configured by sending to the stem controller, comparing the usage frequency of each combustion appliance in the system controller, and setting the combustion appliance with the least usage frequency as the main combustion appliance (the combustion appliance that operates first). The use frequency of a plurality of combustion appliances can be made uniform. It should be noted that the system controller may perform all the integration and comparison of the usage frequencies of the combustion appliances.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. A plurality of combustion appliances such as a water heater and a hot air generator are provided side by side to obtain a large capacity exceeding the capacity of each combustion appliance. In a multi-device system, a plurality of (three in this embodiment) combustion appliance bodies A, B, C (not shown) are provided with combustion appliance body controllers 1A, 1B, 1C, and each combustion appliance body controller 1A. , 1B, 1C are transmission lines composed of control lines 3A, 3B, 3C for supplying electric power and transmitting control signals, and ground lines 4A, 4B, 4C, respectively, which are connected in parallel to the system controller 5 for control. A remote controller (individual input means) 2A corresponding to each combustion appliance main body is provided in the middle of a transmission line (for example, a control line 3A and a ground line 4A) consisting of a pair of a power line and a ground line.
2B and 2C are connected. The remote controllers 2A, 2B, 2C may be connected to the combustion appliance body controllers 1A, 1B, 1C by a transmission line different from the above transmission line, that is, independently of the system controller 5.

The combustion appliance body controller 1A comprises a microcomputer (CPU) 10A, a transmitter 11A, and a receiver.
12A and a power supply unit 13A are provided, and the transmission unit 11A, the reception unit 12A, and the power supply unit 13A are connected in parallel to each other on one end side of the transmission line (control line 3A and ground line 4A).
The same applies to the other combustion appliance body controllers 1B and 1C. In the burning appliance main body controllers 1A, 1B, and 1C, the number of operations, the operating time, and the like indicating the usage frequency of the corresponding burning appliances are integrated and stored, and when an inquiry signal from the system controller 5 described later is received, an inquiry signal is sent. The number of times of operation, the time of operation, etc. at the time of receiving are transmitted to the system controller 5 as a response signal, and the operation of integrating the number of times of operation, time of operation, etc. is continued.

The remote controller 2A comprises a microcomputer 20A, a transmitter 21A and a receiver 22A, and the transmitter 21A and receiver 22A are parallel to each other in the middle of a transmission line (control line 3A and ground line 4A). When the system controller 5 is not connected, the combustion appliance main body A is controlled only by the operation of the remote controller 2A, and the other remote controllers 2B and 2C are also the same. The system controller 5 includes a microcomputer 50 and a plurality of transmitters 51 and receivers 52 corresponding to at least the number of combustion appliance main bodies, and one end of each combustion appliance main controller 1A, 1B,
1C is connected to each of the transmission lines (in the present embodiment, the control line 3A and the ground line 4A, the control line 3B and the ground line 4).
B, the transmission line 51 and the reception line 52 are connected in parallel to each other on the other end side of the control line 3C and the ground line 4C), and when the system controller 5 outputs a system controller connection request signal, this signal is output. In the received burner appliance body controllers 1A, 1B, 1C, the connection is cut off so that the control signals from the remote controllers 2A, 2B, 2C are not accepted, and only the system control signal from the system controller 5 is accepted.

The transmitters 11A, 21A, 51 convert the pulse control signals output from the microcomputers 10A, 20A, 50 into high-frequency AC signals, superimpose them on a DC voltage (for example, 12V), and transmit them. It is transmitted via (control line 3A and ground line 4A). Also, the receiver 12
A, 22A and 52 are transmission lines (control line 3A and ground line 4
The signal received via A) is separated into a DC component and an AC component, taken out, the AC component is demodulated into a pulse signal and input to the microcomputers 10A, 20A and 50, respectively.

The operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2. This is a control method for rotating the combustion appliance at every predetermined time (24 hours in this embodiment) at a predetermined time (in this embodiment,
At midnight), the system controller 5 transmits an inquiry signal of the frequency of use (in this embodiment, an inquiry about the number of times of operation) to each of the combustion appliance body controllers 1A, 1B, 1C.

Each combustion appliance body controller 1A, 1B,
In response to the inquiry signal from the system controller 5, 1C transmits the number of times of operation of each combustion appliance at that time to the system controller 5 as a response signal, and the system controller 5 compares the number of times of operation of each combustion appliance to determine the most operation. The combustion appliance with a small number of times is selected to be the main combustion appliance for a predetermined time (24 hours) (that is, until midnight of the next day). It should be noted that the system controller 5 may also integrate the number of times of operation of each combustion appliance.

The combustion equipment selected as the main combustion equipment is first activated at the start of use of the multi-equipment system and stopped at the end of use of the multi-equipment system. For example, from a water heater having a plurality of bypass passages. In the hot water supply system consisting of, the newly selected new main water heater is made ready to start, that is, the water passage solenoid valve is opened, the overflow prevention water amount adjustment valve is fully opened, and the bypass solenoid valve is the standard corresponding to the target distribution ratio. While driving to the position, the old main water heater, which was the main water heater last time, is put in the standby state, that is, the water passage solenoid valve is closed, and the overflow prevention water amount adjusting valve and the bypass solenoid valve are fully closed.

The burner that is operated second after the main burner is the burner that has the second least usage frequency. If there is no difference in the frequency of use, it is sufficient to select from the combustion appliances that were not the old main combustion appliance to the main combustion appliance as appropriate and rotate it, but the frequency of use of multiple combustion appliances in normal operation Are not equal to each other.

[0015]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention is configured as described above, even if the frequency of use of the multi-equipment system varies depending on the day, the frequency of use of the combustion appliances composing the multi-equipment system can be made uniform. Therefore, the durability of the combustion appliance can be improved, and the durability of the multi-device system as a whole is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a multi-device system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A, 1B, 1C Combustion appliance main body controller 2A, 2B, 2C remote controller (individual input means) 3A, 3B, 3C control line, 4A, 4B, 4C ground line 5 system controller,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multi-device system comprising a plurality of combustion appliances each having a combustion appliance main body controller and individual input means to the combustion appliance main body controller, wherein a single system controller is provided for each combustion. This is a multi-device operation control method that controls the appliance main controller in higher order.The usage frequency of each combustion appliance is integrated, and the integrated usage frequency of each combustion appliance is compared at predetermined time intervals. A multi-device operation control method, wherein the device is set as a main combustion device.